Reflecting on the Climate Legacy Campaign

It feels like almost a lifetime ago that we gathered at the Campaign Summit in Worcester, learning about our first statewide campaigns and training to get involved.

Since then, we dove head long into an ambitious campaign to:

Ban the Worst

Build Only the Best

Begin to Price the Rest

From coal, to no new fossil fuels to headway on a carbon tax, we saw what Massachusetts needed to do to lead on meaningful climate action and we went for it.

We made calls, submitted comments, attended hearings, held actions, and more!

From our lobby day for a clean energy Commonwealth, to 400 of us rallying outside on the freezing Salem Harbor to fight a proposed new gas plant, to meeting directly with Governor Patrick and hearing him call for a “Fossil Free Future.”

Now as the campaign closes, we can reflect on what we have accomplished and take it to the next level this coming year as we pursue our next round of campaigns.

Progress We Made!

All coal plants have announced their plans to shut down by 2017 with continuing just transition conversations

Legal confirmation that fracking is banned in MA

Governor Patrick has laid the foundation for tracking tar sands at the regional level

A Clean Energy Standard was drafted to prioritize investments in clean energy sources

Salem gas plant was delayed so they missed their construction deadlines and are hanging on by a thread!

The Westfield and Brockton proposed gas plant projects have stalled out

The Kinder-Morgan and Spectra Pipelines have been delayed with grassroots resistance growing

The state commissioned a study on low gas demand scenarios to assess our need for such pipelines

A bill to clean up methane leaks passed

We have seen the narrative around “natural” gas change to acknowledge its dangers and hidden costs

A carbon tax study was completed, setting the stage for future meaningful work on carbon pricing

Moving Forward!

Supporting Rep. Haddad’s bill to bring renewable energy development to Somerset (the site of the Brayton Point coal plant) and possibly other host communities

Continuing to resist new fossil fuel infrastructure through the next 350MA Campaign!

Continuing to push for a carbon tax through another new 350MA Campaign!

Change does not happen overnight. So every day, every month, every year, that we take meaningful steps forward on climate, we get closer to realizing a vision for a better future, free from fossil fuels.

Thank you for all of the incredible work you have put into this campaign to make it a success. It is amazing to see what we can accomplish together.